Vol.74 No.3 May 2026
The impact of limited supply of carbapenems on the antibiotic spectrum of selected antibiotics: an analysis using days of antibiotic spectrum coverage for gram-negative bacteremia
1)Pharmacy Department, Yamaguchi University Hospital, 1-1-1 MinamiKogushi, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
2)Division of Infection Control Management, Yamaguchi University Hospital
Abstract
The impact of limited antibiotic supply on appropriate antibiotic use remains unclear. In recent years, "days of antibiotic spectrum coverage" (DASC) has been proposed as a metric that also takes into account the antibiotic spectrum for evaluating antibiotic use. In this study, we investigated the impact of the adequacy of antibiotic supply on the spectrum of selected antibiotics used to treat gram-negative bacteremia by comparing the DASC before and during a period of limited supply of carbapenems. This analysis included 104 cases of gram-negative bacteremia treated before the period of limited supply (between July 2022 and June 2023; former period) and 130 cases treated during the period of limited supply (between July 2023 and June 2024; latter period) of carbapenems. Significant decrease of the days of therapy (DOT) for carbapenems was observed during the latter period as compared with that during the former period. The median DASC was 347/100 patient-days in the former period and 328/100 patient-days in the latter period. The median DASC/DOT was 8.9 during the former period and 8.5 during the latter period with no significant difference in this ratio between the two periods. This analysis suggests that while a limited supply of carbapenems may reduce the DOT of carbapenems for gram-negative bacteremia, the overall DASC and DASC/DOT may not change.
Key word
days of antibiotic spectrum coverage, antimicrobial stewardship, gram-negative bacteria, bacteremia, antimicrobial shortage
Received
September 18, 2025
Accepted
January 21, 2026
Jpn. J. Chemother. 74 (3): 444-449, 2026
